Sleeping Beauty: movement of boat

[innopac]

How is it when the Prince and the Lilac fairy go in search of the Sleeping Beauty that their boat always seems to know its own way, twisting and turning magically through the forest and across the stage.

How has this illusion been created, both in past times and today?

[Mel Johnson]

For the straight-across trip, there's nothing to it. The boat is on a wagon unit and pulled across the stage by a rope. The mechanisms are concealed by the ground row and/or ground fog. For the more indirect route, put a stagehand under the boat with kneepads and a pair of no-skid gloves, and provide him with a viewslit, perhaps covered with scrim material, to steer with. Other ways have included a zig-zag track on the stage, and the wagon unit propelled back and forth by a burly stagehand who is pushing a pole almost like a periscope, with a crossbar to show him which way is forward. This last, however, calls for a special stage and can be treacherous to dance on.

[innopac]

Other ways have included a zig-zag track on the stage, and the wagon unit propelled back and forth by a burly stagehand who is pushing a pole almost like a periscope, with a crossbar to show him which way is forward. This last, however, calls for a special stage and can be treacherous to dance on.

Could you clarify what you mean be a "special stage" and its problems? Presumably the tracks are not permanent. How would they be secured?

And thank you very much for answering my question.

[innopac]

Also, if any one could suggest a good source for reading about the staging of ballets through history I would be very grateful. Especially if there is one that isn't too technical and perhaps was more appropriate for a nonprofessional. Thank you once again.

[Mel Johnson]

The action goes like this: The regular stage is in place. The boat comes on upstage. They start to track across the upstage ground row and out. While they are out, hundreds of stagehands push the regular stage back out of sight, and the hundreds more push the slotted stage into position. The boat is pushed back on and sits over the track while the substage stagehand fits the pole into the underside of the wagon. Ground fog or darkness may conceal the bottom of the boat. This is the method you use of you have the use of a large number (say a regiment - 1,000) of soldiers to be stagehands.

I've always considered the works of Ivor Guest on ballet history to be excellent.

[Andrei]

In St. Petersburg the boat doesn't move at all, but the forest does. There are two back drops, one in the front of the boat with a lot of wholes in it and another one behind, solid one. They move like a film in the camera, plus the front back drop moves a little bit faster then the other one and we have the illusion of a sealing boat.

[Mel Johnson]

Yes, that's how the scene was planned originally. The boat just stayed there, and the backdrop scrolled across the stage. In the original production, they had planned it for the Mariinsky, but the ballet actually premiered at the St. Petersburg Bolshoi Theater, which was too small for the big scrolling mechanism. They had to cut the scene until they got back to their home theater. Oddly, in the restored version, they made the machine, but just before the show, it broke down, so they were a restoration in an unexpected fashion!

[leonid17]

Yes, that's how the scene was planned originally. The boat just stayed there, and the backdrop scrolled across the stage. In the original production, they had planned it for the Mariinsky, but the ballet actually premiered at the St. Petersburg Bolshoi Theater, which was too small for the big scrolling mechanism. They had to cut the scene until they got back to their home theater. Oddly, in the restored version, they made the machine, but just before the show, it broke down, so they were a restoration in an unexpected fashion!

Bolshoi Theatre? Every source that I have read in English and Russian clearly states the premiere was given at the Maryinsky Theatre.

[rg]

i too find only references to the maryinsky for the generale and the premiere of LA BELLE AU BOIS DORMANT. can you note a source here for the change to the bolshoi?

[Mel Johnson]

Sorry, you're both right, I oversimplified the story. The production was made on the Maryinsky, but the panorama drop still wouldn't cooperate, so it was cut at the premiere. The Maryinsky went dark when they had to restring the stage cables on the pinrail system, so they took it to the Bolshoi, where the machinery REALLY got broken, and they weren't able to use it again. Beaumont mentions projections on the cyc as a standby effect.

[juliajane]

Sorry, you're both right, I oversimplified the story. The production was made on the Maryinsky, but the panorama drop still wouldn't cooperate, so it was cut at the premiere. The Maryinsky went dark when they had to restring the stage cables on the pinrail system, so they took it to the Bolshoi, where the machinery REALLY got broken, and they weren't able to use it again. Beaumont mentions projections on the cyc as a standby effect.

In the company I worked with, we just had a man inside the boat who walked it around the stage where it was supposed to go, while the Lilac Fairy made "look at this" gestures and gently brushed the "vines" out of the way, and the Prince dipped his hands in the "water" and made sort of "wow, I'm so amazed" gestures. Very simple. Naturally he had a concealed window so he could see where he was going and there was dry ice to make fog which added to the effect. The wings and a scrim which were painted to be the vines which had overgrown Aurora's castle over the hundred years slowly came in as the boat glided past so it looked as though it was actually traveling through real terrain. The assumption was that it was the Lilac Fairy's magical boat and she was magically guiding it without having to pull out an oar and row it herself. Funny story - one year the fellow "walking" the boat (not a dancer) wanted to take class with the company before the performance and when the director said no, he quit, so at the last minute we shoved somebody's brother-in-law into the "role." That's how easy it was.